I’ve been following an online community for parents of premature babies. I was invited because I had experience with NICU. My third child spent two weeks there. So I stuck around to offer support to families in situations similar to mine.

One little boy Garrett, was born 16 weeks too soon. He was the only survivor of triplets.

Just past his first birthday, he died. His parents are putting this simple phrase on their stone: “Walk softly. A dream lies here.” Those words ring so true.

Garrett’s family have put up a Prematurity Band on the March of Dimes website. The March of Dimes has done so much for infants, and their families. They have backed a lot of research, and educate people on how to prevent birth defects. They support parents who are dealing with an NICU situation. Money to them is money well spent, I think.

If you want to support them, please consider donating in Garrett’s name. Or, if you know someone born prematurely, even if they are older now, and perfectly healthy, consider donating a band in their name. I bet part of the reason they are around today is the education and research March of Dimes has done.

The museum has been around since 1897, and is well known for it’s Egyptian Art collection (over 500 pieces on display), and it’s Rodins. It was the first in the USA to display pieces from Africa as art. The American art galleries are wonderful and welcoming. You can curl up and stare at something for ages. Over the years they’ve made it a very warm and open place. First Saturdays are nice, too, when they stay open until 11pm, free admission after 5pm, and offer movies, gallery talks, hands on art projects, music, and a dance party. Soon they will have wi-fi, too.
So now they’re opening up this new entrance. It visually replaces the steps that were torn down in the thirties. It’s got a beautiful fountain, a newly landscaped promenade, this massive glass roof of sorts over much of it. It’s a large enough entrance to have it’s own ampitheatre! It’s amazing how many people, even living in New York, are unaware of this huge museum sitting in Brooklyn.

This weekend, they’ll be opening this all to the public. It will be open from 11-11 on Saturday, and 11-6 on Sunday. Free. Not only will it be free, but there will be music, dancing (both by visitors and performers), films, talks. There will be book signings and scavenger hunts. There will be art projects to make. It’s going to be fantastic and I am going to be there.

This is just the start of something big, I think — a museum trying to become part of their community, part of their borough, welcoming the residents in for a big huge party. It’s nice, it’s friendlier, it’s accessable. I don’t just mean by their renovations of a nearby train station, I mean by how they’ve been treating the visitors to the museum.

It’s OUR museum, now. For a while it was almost as if it was a desperate suitor vying for the attention of the attention of the Manhattan art scene, but now it stands on its own.

Just as in romance, desperation can be smelled a mile away, and nothing is more attractive than someone, or in this case, some place, that knows how to have a good time, and stand on their own merits.

The Spousal Unit has started a site of his own, called Shite Waterfalls, a website of stories from the construction industry. He also wants to review a hammer. I have no idea why he wants to review a hammer, but he does. It’s supposed to be a damn fine hammer.

Whatever makes him happy.

Recent stories include the origin of the name Shite Waterfalls, a Core Drill and some flying lessons, and an asbestos disaster caused by good intentions.

It’s enough to make you want to live in a tent in the woods. Seriously.

I’m sure you’re all familiar with 4-1-9 scams. Those are the scams where people, often from Nigeria, claim to be some sort of official that needs to move money somewhere, and wants to use your bank account to do it, splitting the proceeds with you. There are several variations to this theme, none of them legitimate. Later on in the scam, they encourage you to visit their country. Suprisingly, people do that, and it’s making the scammers millions of dollars per year.

One site, 419 Eater, scams the scammers. From the simple, like making them post ridiculously and emailing the results, to the complex — leading them on as far as having them spend their own money to get you to fly to their country. And every revenge scam is meticulously documented, with photos and/or audio, at this website.

They even give you helpful hints on how to scam them back, on your own!

My personal favorite is the one from India, where the scammer posed with a loaf of bread on his head, and a fish in his hand. That’s about as surreal as it gets! If I had the time and patience, I’d go after one of the scammers, myself.